美國西北大學(Northwestern University)的醫學院研究人員,成功將人類胚胎幹細胞轉形成記憶細胞--膽鹼能神經元(cholinergic neurons),植入換有阿茲海默症的老鼠大腦,恢復喪失的記憶,這項發現將刊登在幹細胞(Stem Cells)期刊.
阿茲海默症為前腦的膽鹼能神經元壞死,導致記憶漸漸喪失.先前已針對造成阿茲海默症的基因調控,及參與的訊息蛋白分子做研究,因此能成功的利用胚胎幹細胞建立出膽鹼能神經細胞,直接進行修補.
膽鹼能神經細胞植入阿茲海默症老鼠的大腦, 能跑到海馬迴(hippocampus)當中產生記憶,接著製造乙醯膽鹼(acetylcholine)的神經傳導物質產生訊息傳遞,已恢復記憶.
這項新技術將讓研究人員得以使用人類細胞來治療阿茲海默症的可能性,目前在實驗室的階段,這個細胞可提供新藥測試使用,幫助恢復喪失的記憶.
Engineered Stem Cells May Improve Memory For Alzheimer's Patients
This is the story of healthy cells tracing the pathway of killer cells to repair, instead of breakdown, the memory function destroyed by Alzheimer's disease. The transplant method, undertaken by researchers as Northwestern University Medical School, was so successful in mouse brains, that there is reason to believe it might work for humans with Alzheimer's disease.
In Alzheimer's, cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain die off as the disease progresses, and that kills memory. After studying the development of the genetic signals that guide the development of the cholinergic neurons, the Northwestern researchers embellished human embryonic stem cells so they could develop in the same way as the cholinergic neurons.
Creating pores in the walls of the stem cell nuclei, they slipped in segments of DNA and gene-regulating proteins associated with cholinergic neurons. They then transplanted the lab-made neurons into segments of mouse brain, where the neurons wove themselves through the hippocampus, the region responsible for memory formation. Once they were established, these neurons actually began producing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is instrumental in the retrieval of memories.
Not a cure, of course, but lab neurons, if implanted in a human brain, might at least be a form of therapy. Additionally, these neurons can be tested in the lab to see how they react to possible other, perhaps drug, treatments.
John Kessler, a member of the Northwestern University team put it this way: "Now we can have human neurons in a dish in front of use and rapidly screen tens of thousands of drugs."
This research will be published in the journal Stem Cells.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/lab_generated_stem_cells_may_improve_memory_alzheimers_patients
